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A credit freeze is one of the most effective ways to prevent new accounts from being opened by someone using your stolen personal data. It's free, and it doesn't impact your credit score—and when it's time to lift it, "unfreeze" isn't your only option. You can also thaw your credit when if you need to legitimately apply for new credit yourself. Here's what to know about freezing, unfreezing, and thawing your credit.
Freezing your credit is relatively simple and free for everyone through the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Here are the steps:
Visit each credit bureau's website and request a freeze. You'll need to provide some personal information to verify your identity.
Each bureau will assign a personal identification number (PIN) to use when you want to lift the freeze temporarily or permanently.
That's it! Your credit will be frozen at all three bureaus, preventing new creditors from accessing your report unless you actively allow it.
To unfreeze your credit, you have to put in a request with each major credit bureau. If you make the request online or by phone, the bureaus should lift the freeze within an hour. When you formally unfreeze your credit, this leaves your report open unless you request another credit freeze.
But "unfreeze" isn't your only option: When you're ready to apply for new credit like a loan or credit card, you can "thaw" your frozen credit rather than unfreezing it permanently. A thaw temporarily lifts the freeze for a set period, such as a week, after which it will automatically re-freeze on its own without any additional action needed on your part.
To thaw frozen credit, simply contact the bureau(s) and use your PIN to request a temporary thaw, specifying the time period. This allows creditors to access your report, after which it re-freezes automatically until you thaw it again.
While freezing credit won't completely prevent identity theft, it's one of the best ways to proactively protect yourself and minimize the potential damage of stolen personal information. Given that it's now free and convenient, there's little reason not to take advantage of this added security. In addition to freezing your credit, you're entitled to free credit reports every week from each bureau, so it’s easier to monitor your report regularly.
If you're looking for a simple way to potentially boost your credit score, you may want to try the 15/3 credit card payment hack. This popular strategy involves making two payments towards your credit card bill each month instead of just one lump-sum payment.
You know you need to pay your credit card bill on time, and that you should always pay enough to avoid keeping a balance. The 15/3 rule recommends making an initial credit card payment around 15 days before your statement due date. You then make a second payment about three days before the due date to pay off the remaining balance.
For example, if your statement closing date is the 1st of the month and the payment is due on the 25th, you would make one payment around the 10th and the final payment around the 22nd.
The logic behind the 15/3 hack is that it can help minimize your credit utilization ratio, which is the percentage of your total credit limit being used. Credit utilization makes up 30% of your FICO credit score calculation.
When your statement balance gets reported to the credit bureaus, a lower balance (from making that payment around 15 days early) means your utilization will be lower for that snapshot in time. Since utilization has a significant impact on your score, the 15/3 strategy may help keep your credit utilization ratio down and your credit score up.
However, the impact can vary depending on the credit scoring model used and your overall credit profile. Those with higher credit limits may see less of a boost compared to those with lower limits where utilization changes make a bigger difference.
While results aren't guaranteed, the 15/3 hack is certainly worth trying if you're looking for ways to optimize your credit score. It's a simple adjustment to how you make payments, without any cost to you. Just be sure to make at least the minimum payment each month and automate payments if you think you might forget. Consistent, on-time payments are ultimately what matters most for your credit score.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new rule on Tuesday capping late fees on credit cards. The move slashes the typical late fee from an average of around $32 down to just $8, saving affected consumers an estimated $220 per year on average.
The new regulation comes after the CFPB reviewed data showing credit card companies have been steadily hiking late fees higher and higher over the last decade by exploiting a loophole in the 2009 Card Act. That law allowed issuers to raise fees to adjust for inflation, which they took full advantage of.
"For over a decade, credit card giants have been exploiting a loophole to harvest billions of dollars in junk fees from American consumers," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra sad in the release. "Today's rule ends the era of big credit card companies hiding behind the excuse of inflation when they hike fees on borrowers and boost their own bottom lines." Here's how the release breaks down the main takeaways of the new rule:
Lowers the immunity provision dollar amount for late fees to $8: Based on data analyzed by the CFPB, a late fee of $8 would be sufficient for larger card issuers, on average, to cover collection costs incurred as a result of late payments.
Ends abuse of the automatic annual inflation adjustment: The CFPB found that many issuers hiked their late fees in lockstep each year without evidence of increased costs. The CFPB’s final rule eliminates the automatic annual inflation adjustment for the $8 late fee threshold. This adjustment was added by the Federal Reserve Board and is not required by law. The CFPB will instead monitor market conditions and adjust the $8 late fee immunity threshold as necessary.
Requires credit card issuers to show their math: Larger card issuers will be able to charge fees above the threshold so long as they can prove the higher fee is necessary to cover their actual collection costs.
By capping late fees at a reasonable $8 level, the CFPB estimates the new policy will save consumers billions of dollars annually in excessive penalty charges. The rule is set to take effect later this spring.
However, while the late fee reduction provides some relief, remember this is only a bandage on the larger problem of credit card debt. With interest rates on unpaid balances still averaging around 20% or higher, the core issue of making it difficult for Americans to get out of credit card debt remains. As always, you should try to pay your credit card bill on time, and always pay enough to avoid keeping a balance. For more, here's the most strategic time to pay your credit card balance.
If you're feeling squeezed by the inflation-addled cost of holiday shopping this year, but still want to buy gifts for family and friends, your hard-earned credit card rewards can come in handy.
As The Points Guy and others point out, you almost always get the best value out of your rewards when you spend them on travel, such as airfare and hotel bookings, versus redeeming points and miles for cash back or non-travel purchases. However, if you're looking for ways to reduce the out-of-pocket cost of presents this holiday season (and don't have an imminent travel-related use for your rewards), consider strategically spending some of those points and miles on the people you care about.
One way to get great value out of your credit card rewards is to gift them to someone else to use for travel. This will usually require you to transfer your points to a partner airline or hotel loyalty program before you can pass them on to someone else (an exception being Chase Ultimate Rewards members in the same household). Some airlines will charge a miles transfer fee, while most hotels allow points transfers to another member at no cost.
To get around fees and transfer limits, you could offer to book travel for the recipient using your rewards—just don't do so before confirming they're on board.
Some rewards programs allow you to pay yourself back with your points—either by redeeming them for a statement credit or cash rewards, such as a direct deposit or mailed check. This can help offset the cost of gifts you plan to or have already purchased. Your mileage may vary, however: Chase Ultimate Rewards typically offers the best per-point value through its Pay Yourself Back statement credit (1–1.5 cents per point redeemed), while American Express Membership Rewards allows just 0.6 cents per point spent on statement credit.
Another non-travel redemption option is spending credit card rewards on merchandise from retailers like Amazon, Apple, Walmart, and Best Buy as well as through PayPal. (Airline and hotel points can sometimes be used on merch as well as media subscriptions.) If you're shopping at these stores anyway, you can apply points to purchases at checkout rather than charging costs to your card.
Again, the value varies significantly across rewards programs and retailers. Chase Ultimate Rewards are worth 1 cent per point at Apple but 0.8 cents per point at Amazon; transactions made with Citi ThankYou Rewards may have exclusions and minimum purchase requirements.
Finally, most rewards programs have a selection of gift cards available for purchase with points. You can give gift cards as gifts or use them to buy presents at retailers that aren't eligible for shopping with points. Be sure to read the fine print, as the delivery options may range from a physical card sent to your address on file to an e-card.
And again, the value of your points will depend on the rewards program—it probably isn't a surprise at this point that Chase Ultimate Rewards redemption rates top the list with the biggest selection, while airline and hotel rewards get the lowest value when applied to gift cards. American Express Membership Rewards allows you to buy Amex gift cards (not merchant-specific), though at a rate of only 0.5 cents per point.
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